Only two teams in the AAC's bottom six finished with more than four wins last season. Can Dana Holgorsen return Houston to its winning ways? How will Temple follow up on an 8-5 season? Can Tulane, USF or Tulsa compete in 2020?
Marshall and East Carolina will play their opener on Aug. 29 after the NCAA granted a waiver to move the game to "Week Zero" to honor the 50th anniversary of the Marshall plane crash tragedy, which claimed 75 lives.
In this second installment, we're focusing on the most exciting upsets and near upsets of the year, from Georgia State's shocking win over Tennessee to Notre Dame's escape against Virginia Tech.
Zach Smith threw a career-high five touchdown passes, Shamari Brooks ran for a career-high 202 yards and Tulsa beat East Carolina 49-24 on Saturday.
Holton Ahler scored on a 2-yard run with 3:31 remaining in the game and East Carolina rallied last in a 31-24 victory over Connecticut on Saturday.
The Tigers scored 46 points against Alabama's defense, P.J. Fleck and Minnesota upset Penn State, and a wild Saturday of college football turned normal realities upside down.
Shane Buechele threw five touchdown passes, Xavier Jones broke one of Eric Dickerson's school records and No. 23 SMU bounced back from a first loss that dramatically changed the course of its season, outscoring East Carolina 59-51 on Saturday.
| EAST | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 7-1 | 11-3 |
| UCF | 6-2 | 10-3 |
| Temple | 5-3 | 8-5 |
| South Florida | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| East Carolina | 1-7 | 4-8 |
| UConn | 0-8 | 2-10 |
| WEST | CONF | OVR |
| Memphis | 7-1 | 12-2 |
| Navy | 7-1 | 11-2 |
| SMU | 6-2 | 10-3 |
| Tulane | 3-5 | 7-6 |
| Houston | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Tulsa | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| NAME | POS | STATUS | GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mason Garcia | QB-PP | Signed | 77 |
| Sean Tucker | CB | Signed | 75 |
| Teylor Jackson | S | Signed | 75 |
| Shane Calhoun | TE-H | Signed | 75 |
| Xavier McIver | DT | Signed | 74 |
